Camco 55463 PowerGrip 30A Dogbone Adapter 18-Inch

When your 30-amp shore power cord won't quite reach the pedestal, or the plug ends on your old cord have gone brittle and scorched, this Camco PowerGrip dogbone is the simple fix. It's an 18-inch adapter with a 30-amp male plug on one end and a 30-amp female receptacle on the other, so it bridges a same-service connection without you having to replace a whole cord. Boaters and RVers both keep one of these in the dock bag because it solves the little problems that come up at the pedestal.

The name dogbone comes from the shape. A short whip of cord with a molded plug on each end. The PowerGrip part is Camco's grip handle at the plug head, and it earns its keep every time you're wrestling a stiff cord onto a tight inlet. You grab the handle, not the cord, and you get a firm hold to seat the pins and pull the plug back out. Anyone who's fought a cold, stiff shore cord in the dark knows why that matters.

Ratings first, because they set the limits. This adapter is rated 30 amps at 125 volts, which works out to 3750 watts. That's the same ceiling as a standard 30-amp RV or boat service, so the dogbone isn't the bottleneck as long as you stay inside a normal 30-amp load. Where you want to pay attention is when you're stacking big draws. Air conditioning plus an electric water heater can push you close to that 3750-watt line, and the male end is where heat shows up first. If you're running hard on a hot day, put your hand on the plug after half an hour. Warm is fine. Hot means you're near the limit and something upstream needs a look.

The 18-inch length is a deliberate middle ground. It's long enough to close a short gap between an offset inlet and the pedestal, which is common on center-console boats where the shore inlet doesn't line up with the post. It's short enough that it isn't one more thing coiling up and tripping people on the dock. On bigger powerboats with the inlet way aft of the outlet, you may still want a full extension instead, since 18 inches only buys you so much reach.

One honest caveat: both ends are non-locking. That's the standard 30-amp RV-style plug, and it's exactly what most pedestals and boat inlets expect. But non-locking means the connection relies on friction, not a twist-lock collar. Sitting still at a calm dock, that's a non-issue. In real chop, with the boat working against the lines all night, a non-locking plug can walk its way loose. Plenty of boaters run a wrap of tape or a zip tie at the joint for peace of mind, and it's a smart habit if your slip gets bounced around.

Saltwater deserves a word too. Any plug that lives in a marine environment is going to see corrosion at the pins eventually. A thin film of dielectric grease on the male blades before you connect keeps the contacts clean and makes the next disconnect a lot easier months down the road. It's cheap insurance and it's the single best thing you can do to make a shore power connection last.

So who's this for? It's for the boater or RVer who needs to extend a 30-amp run by a foot and a half, swap around a worn plug end, or just get a better grip on a stubborn connection at the post. It's a temporary-to-semi-permanent adapter for same-service 30-amp power, not a heavy inverter feed or a continuous maximum-load solution. Use it for what it is and it'll ride in your dock bag for years.

We stock these because they're the kind of small, sensible gear that saves a night. Nothing flashy. Just a well-made adapter with a handle that actually helps, from a brand that's been building this stuff since 1966.